Just like he did all those months ago, Griffin balls up his hoodie for me to use as a pillow. A gesture that once seemed so innocuous looks a lot different in hindsight.
He smiles. “We missed you, too. Didn’t we, tater tot?”
“Don’t you think it’s time to come up with a new nickname now that she’s here? She’s a baby, not a deep-fried root vegetable.”
“You can come up with your own nickname, but she’ll always be my little tater tot.”
I don’t have it in me to argue the point. He can call her whatever he wants as long as he keeps looking at her like he’d move heaven and earth just to make her happy.
I adjust my position, squaring my shoulders to stare up at the painted clouds on the ceiling. “So. What shapes did we find today?”
“She’s adamant that this one over here looks like a sheep, but I just don’t see it,” he says, amused.
“She told you that, did she?”
“Mhm.” He shifts onto his side, props his head on his hand, and tucks an errant strand of hair behind my ear. “She also said she has the most beautiful mom in the entire world, and she loves you very much.”
My stomach somersaults at the tenderness of the moment.Sheloves me.She—not Griffin—but tell that to my rapidly beating heart.
We stay like that for a long while, not looking away like we’re locked in some sort of standoff, until Griffin’s nose wrinkles as he sniffs the air.
The scent hits me next, and I wince.
“That one’s yours, Mama.”
“Nope. You smelled it first.” I stand and dart out of the room as fast as my legs will carry me, but my heart stays behind.
Chapter 34
I Love Pasta
? Cloud 9 - Megan Maroney
Griffin
Angie trails into the kitchen,sleep mussed and as gorgeous as ever. She stretches her arms above her head, and her shirt rides up the barest amount. I fleetingly wonder if I could get her pregnant again, but I tamp down that dangerous thought. I’d love to have more kids, but pregnancy was hard on her, and I wouldn’t put her through that again unless she explicitly asked me to. I already have everything I could ever want or need.
“How was your nap?” I ask, setting another bottle on the drying rack.
“Good, but I’m still tired down to my bones.” She comes up behind me and wraps her arms around my waist.
I capture her hands and hold her there. “You spent nine months growing another human being, now you’re up at all hours taking care of her. It makes sense that your body would need some time to adjust.”
She lets out a quiet sigh, then sidesteps me to get to Jessie, but she doesn’t have to go far since the sleeping baby is attached to my chest. Only her tiny, round face is visible between the fabric wrap holding her there.
“How long has she been out?”
“About an hour, give or take.”
Angie presses a soft kiss to the tip of her nose. “Happy Valentine’s Day, my little love.”
I smirk. “And what about me? Am I just the third wheel now?”
She quirks a brow, crossing her arms over her chest. “You never asked me to be your Valentine.”
“I didn’t know there were rules for that.”
“Who doesn’t know how Valentine’s Day works? ‘Be mine’ is literally written on every card and piece of candy in the seasonal section.”
